Council tax allocation frozen - but some Walden households to pay £5 less a year

Saffron Walden residents will pay slighty less in council tax than last year - despite the town council’s decision to only freeze its precept for 2014.

At a meeting on Thursday, councillors agreed to keep the same council tax allocation as last year - £784,117 for the town council’s services, which includes running a variety of facilities and open spaces.

But a Band D household will now pay £5.60 less a year towards the precept - a 3.99 per cent decrease.

These households will be paying £134.89 instead of the £140.49 that they paid in 2013/14.

Despite a number of district councils cutting their funding to town and parish councils, Uttlesford District Council (UDC) has given a grant of £64,546 to the town council, which has helped the budget.

This means the town council has an income less expenditure of £848,663 for 2014/15.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the proposed budget.

Sandra Eden, deputy mayor, concluded: “We offer more for less.”

Cllr Richard Harrington said he was sure the taxpayers would be pleased to see a reduction on what they paid last year.

In recent years, the town council has taken responsibility for the running and upkeep of a number of sites previously under the control of UDC, including the cemetery in Radwinter Road and Bridge End Garden.

Cllr David Watson praised the town clerk and his staff for not increasng the precept despite this.

He said: “The figure is actually better than what it appears because we have lost a £10,000 transfer grant from UDC for managing the facilities they handed over to us.

“For us not to increase the Council Tax precept shows that this council has managed those facilities more economically than Uttlesford.

“The town clerk and his staff should be congratulated for working so studiously.”

Last year, members agreed to increase the town council’s precept by 3.7 per cent – taking the town’s proportion of a band D council tax bill to £140.49.

This was the sixth year in a row that the council decided to increase its precept.

The town council’s share of the Council Tax bill accounts for only a small percentage of five organisations.

Essex County Council, Essex Police and Essex Fire and Rescue have not revealed their precepts yet.

UDC is set to freeze its portion, but the total precept will be confirmed on February 27.